Last week, Apple again repeated its claim that the iPhone and iPod Touch are capable of filling the netbook niche. They also claimed that netbooks can barely be called personal computers. Both of these statements are complete and utter nonsense, but instead of writing down some high-level definition of what a netbook is, I decided to simply write down all the things I do with my netbook that the iPhone/iPod Touch cannot do to make the difference between the two that much more tangible.

“We have other products to accomplish some of what people are buying netbooks for,”

That seems reasonable, with emphasis on the word "some". E-mail, basic web browsing, playing music files, etc. But...

"When I look at what's being sold in the netbook space today, I see cramped keyboards,
Cramped keyboards? Compared to an iPod or iPhone?!? LMAO.

terrible software,
Uh, maybe the Apple CFO isn't familiar with netbooks at all? They run full version operating systems and can generally run the exact same software as a 'real' computer. If he can put OSX and an office suite on an iPod, I'll eat crow.

jerky hardware,
Yeah, right.

very small screens
[snickering] Netbooks screens are freakin' HUGE compared to an iPod or iPhone.

Apple doesn't want to enter into the Netbook market, that's fine with me - I don't care one way or the other. I bet Asus, Sony, and Dell hope that Apple stays clear too.

But Cook's insistence that Apple's iPods and iPhones can be equally functional is laughable. And his string of netbook put-downs shows ignorance of portable products, and disconnect from everyday users.